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Full-Text Articles in Law

Apportioning Liability In Maryland Tort Cases: Time To End Contributory Negligence And Joint And Several Liability, Donald G. Gifford, Christopher J. Robinette Oct 2013

Apportioning Liability In Maryland Tort Cases: Time To End Contributory Negligence And Joint And Several Liability, Donald G. Gifford, Christopher J. Robinette

Donald G Gifford

The Article presents a comprehensive proposal for assigning liability in tort cases according to the parties’ respective degrees of fault. The authors criticize the Court of Appeals of Maryland’s recent decision in Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia declining to abrogate contributory negligence, particularly the court’s notion that it should not act because of the legislature’s repeated failure to do so. The Article provides a comprehensive analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of comparative fault, including its effect on administrative costs, claims frequency, claims severity, insurance premiums, and economic performance. The authors propose the legislative enactment of comparative fault and …


The Death Of The Common Law: Judicial Abdication And Contributory Negligence In Maryland, Donald G. Gifford Jul 2013

The Death Of The Common Law: Judicial Abdication And Contributory Negligence In Maryland, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

The issue of how to handle a victim’s own contributory negligence that combines with the negligence of a tortfeasor in causing harm is one of the most important, if not the most important, issue in all of tort law. Forty-six states now apply some version of comparative fault that holds the defendant liable for its negligence even when the plaintiff is also careless, but reduces the award in proportion to the plaintiff’s degree of fault when compared with that of the defendant. In contrast, the Maryland Court of Appeals in Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia recently refused again to …


Legal Education For The 21st Century, Donald G. Gifford Aug 2012

Legal Education For The 21st Century, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


From One Generation To The Next, Donald G. Gifford Aug 2012

From One Generation To The Next, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


Creating Opportunity, Donald G. Gifford Aug 2012

Creating Opportunity, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


Coming Into Focus, Donald G. Gifford Aug 2012

Coming Into Focus, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


Lessons Of Change From Those Older And Wiser, Donald G. Gifford Aug 2012

Lessons Of Change From Those Older And Wiser, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


Market Share Liability Beyond Des Cases: The Solution To The Causation Dilemma In Lead Paint Litigation?, Donald G. Gifford, Paolo Pasicolan Feb 2011

Market Share Liability Beyond Des Cases: The Solution To The Causation Dilemma In Lead Paint Litigation?, Donald G. Gifford, Paolo Pasicolan

Donald G Gifford

Over 300,000 young children in America—disproportionately poor and children of color—suffer from childhood lead poisoning. This disease ordinarily is caused by the deterioration of lead paint into flakes, chips, and dust that children ingest or inhale. Victims of childhood lead poisoning have tried to sue manufacturers of lead paint or lead pigment, but they face a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Traditional tort law requires a plaintiff to prove that a specific tortfeasor caused the harm. This is almost impossible in the lead paint context because the paint that caused the harm usually consists of many layers, applied over the course of …


Market Share Liability Beyond Des Cases: The Solution To The Causation Dilemma In Lead Paint Litigation?, Donald G. Gifford, Paolo Pasicolan Jul 2010

Market Share Liability Beyond Des Cases: The Solution To The Causation Dilemma In Lead Paint Litigation?, Donald G. Gifford, Paolo Pasicolan

Donald G Gifford

Over 300,000 young children in America—disproportionately poor and children of color—suffer from childhood lead poisoning. This disease ordinarily is caused by the deterioration of lead paint into flakes, chips, and dust that children ingest or inhale. Victims of childhood lead poisoning have tried to sue manufacturers of lead paint or lead pigment, but they face a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Traditional tort law requires a plaintiff to prove that a specific tortfeasor caused the harm. This is almost impossible in the lead paint context because the paint that caused the harm usually consists of many layers, applied over the course of …


Impersonating The Legislature: State Attorneys General And Parens Patriae Product Litigation, Donald G. Gifford Jul 2010

Impersonating The Legislature: State Attorneys General And Parens Patriae Product Litigation, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

The state attorney general has emerged during the past decade as a “super plaintiff” in state parens patriae litigation against manufacturers of cigarettes, automobiles, lead paint, and pharmaceuticals. Attorneys general sue on behalf of their states as the collective plaintiff, seeking reimbursement for the costs of treating or preventing product-caused diseases suffered by individual residents, even though such individual victims would not themselves be able to recover as plaintiffs. More importantly, they seek to supplant the regulatory regimes previously enacted by Congress, the state legislature, or federal agencies with one that reflects their own visions. This Article traces how state …


Market Share Liability Beyond Des Cases: The Solution To The Causation Dilemma In Lead Paint Litigation?, Donald G. Gifford, Paolo Pasicolan Jul 2010

Market Share Liability Beyond Des Cases: The Solution To The Causation Dilemma In Lead Paint Litigation?, Donald G. Gifford, Paolo Pasicolan

Donald G Gifford

Over 300,000 young children in America—disproportionately poor and children of color—suffer from childhood lead poisoning. This disease ordinarily is caused by the deterioration of lead paint into flakes, chips, and dust that children ingest or inhale. Victims of childhood lead poisoning have tried to sue manufacturers of lead paint or lead pigment, but they face a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Traditional tort law requires a plaintiff to prove that a specific tortfeasor caused the harm. This is almost impossible in the lead paint context because the paint that caused the harm usually consists of many layers, applied over the course of …


Suing The Tobacco And Lead Pigment Industries: Government Litigation As Public Health Prescription, Donald G. Gifford Jul 2010

Suing The Tobacco And Lead Pigment Industries: Government Litigation As Public Health Prescription, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

In Suing the Tobacco and Lead Pigment Industries, legal scholar Donald G. Gifford recounts the transformation of tort litigation in response to the challenge posed by victims of 21st-century public health crises who seek compensation from the product manufacturers. Class action litigation promised a strategy for documenting collective harm, but an increasingly conservative judicial and political climate limited this strategy. Then, in 1995, Mississippi attorney general Mike Moore initiated a parens patriae action on behalf of the state against cigarette manufacturers. Forty-five other states soon filed public product liability actions, seeking both compensation for the funds spent on public health …


The Synthesis Of Legal Counseling And Negotiation Models: Preserving Client-Centered Advocacy In The Negotiation Context, Donald G. Gifford Jul 2010

The Synthesis Of Legal Counseling And Negotiation Models: Preserving Client-Centered Advocacy In The Negotiation Context, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


The Death Of Causation: Mass Products Torts' Incomplete Incorporation Of Social Welfare Principles, Donald G. Gifford Jul 2010

The Death Of Causation: Mass Products Torts' Incomplete Incorporation Of Social Welfare Principles, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

Legal actions against the manufacturers of disease-causing products, such as cigarettes and asbestos insulation, have redefined the landscape of tort liability during the past generation. These actions bedevil courts, because any particular victim often is unable to identify the manufacturer whose product caused her harm. Increasingly, but inconsistently, courts allow victims to recover without proof of individualized causation. This article argues that instrumental approaches seek to turn mass products tort law into the equivalent of a social welfare program, not unlike workers’ compensation or Social Security. As with any such program, the accident compensation system must include compensation entitlement boundaries, …


The Causes Of The Medical Malpractice Crisis: An Analysis Of Claims Data And Insurance Company Finances, David J. Nye, Donald G. Gifford, Bernard L. Webb, Marvin A. Dewar Jul 2010

The Causes Of The Medical Malpractice Crisis: An Analysis Of Claims Data And Insurance Company Finances, David J. Nye, Donald G. Gifford, Bernard L. Webb, Marvin A. Dewar

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


Litigation Trends In Florida: Saga Of A Growth State, Donald G. Gifford, David J. Nye Jul 2010

Litigation Trends In Florida: Saga Of A Growth State, Donald G. Gifford, David J. Nye

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


Public Nuisance As A Mass Products Liability Tort, Donald G. Gifford Jul 2010

Public Nuisance As A Mass Products Liability Tort, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

No abstract provided.


The Peculiar Challenges Posed By Latent Diseases Resulting From Mass Products, Donald G. Gifford Jul 2010

The Peculiar Challenges Posed By Latent Diseases Resulting From Mass Products, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

Legal actions against manufacturers of products that cause latent diseases, such as asbestos products, cigarettes, lead-pigment, and Agent Orange, are the signature torts of our time. Yet within this rather important subset of tort liability, it is unlikely that the imposition of liability actually results in loss prevention. Three factors, present in varying combinations in the context of latent diseases resulting from product exposure, frustrate the deterrent impact of liability. First, an extended period of time—sometimes decades—passes between the time of the manufacturer’s distribution of the product and the imposition of liability. Second, the accident compensation system frequently is unable …